Faerie
by Big Sister Kitty
Summary: AU, Cyberpunk-ish, Character Study, Fia-centric. A sheltered life has the promise of security, but confinement cannot redeem an ailing world.


"Faerie" pertains to the land of Faeries in folklore, but the beings may be called "Faery", "Fairy", "The Little People", "The Folk", "The Fey", etc. In general folklore, the land of Faerie is something that, once humans enter, find very difficult to get out of. One day spent in Faerie could be a hundred human years or more—depending on the folk tale. And by the time the humans _do_ get out, Faerie—and the fey—would have grown on them, and will be with them for the rest of their life. I'm using a somewhat similar concept to explain Fia's character.

Fia, in the Riviera setting, is a very mature and thoughtful character, though perhaps lacking a bit of confidence when it comes to Ein. Still, I'm hoping to explain her wise-beyond-her-years personality by means of an entirely different setting. So, expect some OOC-ness on her part, since she's still growing towards the Fia we all know and love.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Riviera: The Promised Land_. I am merely delving into Fia's character in a rather unorthodox setting.

_**Faerie**_

"_...the faeries are still there, grinning, saying, "Ah, it's a fine day to be moving!"—determined to move right along with us and be a part of whatever the future has in store."_

-Terri Windling, in her introduction to _The Faery Reel_

**I**

"Good afternoon, Miss Fia," the cool, synthetic voice greeted her from the speaker installed to the wall near the door. Fia mumbled something in reply and placed her hand on a glass panel below the speaker. The device felt cold, but it only took a few seconds for it to give an approving beep and enable the door to slide open.

The lights blinked open to reveal a room with a menthol blue paint scheme that, if not for the presence of furniture, would have made the room to appear much smaller than it actually was. Her furniture was fluid, rounded, and elegant, made from the finest durable plastics. The chairs and beds were lined with synthetic foams and draped with artificial fabrics. A wide picture window gave Fia a wonderful view of the city's skyline from the twentieth floor. A tiled kitchen and bathroom were situated in the next rooms and were regularly cleaned by the suite's automated maintenance and security system.

The city, known as the Sector E, was under construction as it was still relatively new. Tall, slender buildings jutted out from around curving white roads. Several taller, more angular towers with giant built-in clocks stood above the skyscrapers, and each was connected to the next from a few miles away by smooth, pale tracks where the bulletcars would move about on. This was the Central Public Transportations System, a good place to commute, especially since the city was still marred by patches of withering plant life and demolition wreckage that hindered travel for the middle class. Hovercars were expensive, and the few affordable ones could only move about several feet from the ground in contrast to the more expensive models that could reach up 15-20 meters. Encircling the whole sector was a great metallic wall that stood as tall as the CPTS with a protective synthetic glass dome, making Sector E, and every other city within the vicinity, look like a giant snow globe.

Sector E was built some fifteen years ago on a patch of forests and mountains. Although technology has enabled them to level the mountains by blowing them up and salvaging any leftover minerals, it still took a while for them to clear away the extensive debris and woodlands to make space for the Commercial District. The area around that was reserved for the construction of smaller polygonal houses for the blue-collared citizens. Graham, Fia's grandfather, was the Chairman of Construction and Renovation, and it was his job to oversee the progress of the city.

With her grandfather being an important and busy man, Fia had to live for most of her life in her spacious quarters in one of the aquiline towers of the Commercial District. Being confined to this place for most of her life, Fia had little to no knowledge of what lay beyond the smooth structures, much less what lay beyond Sector E. But that was all going to change, for Graham had invited her to accompany him later, when he would be supervising the installation of the new supply transport modules, to be done on the outer walls of Sector E. Not only would she be able to go outside the Commercial District, but she would also be able to get a glimpse of the Outer Regions.

Fia switched open Teedie—the marketing term for the Telecommunications Device—a small, rectangular handheld gadget with a sleek, transparent outer covering that opened up to reveal a tiny monitor, speaker, and stylus.

The thin screen glowed, accompanied by a computerized beeping.

**5:00 PM Visit the Outer Regions with Grandfather.**

Fia tapped the stylus on the screen, automatically disabling the beeping. She snapped Teedie shut and put it in her dress pocket. She walked to the window and looked out. Her grandfather's black hovercar was parked in front of the tower's main entrance. Smiling, she went over to a small computer attached to the wall beside her door and typed in some commands. The room was immediately darkened, and the small monitor confirmed that all appliances were put to a low-power setting to conserve electricity. She pressed another button, and the door slid open with a soft hiss. She placed her hand on the outside panel once again, and the door sealed shut.

"Security System, activated," the speaker assured her. Fia smiled to herself and strode down the corridor to a transparent, cylindrical elevator. The door hissed open as she came within a foot of it and shut once the sensors confirmed that there were no other passengers waiting outside.

"Ground floor," Fia ordered, and the elevator shaft descended with a _swoosh_.

**II**

"Installation might take a while, Sir," informed Graham's secretary, Ladie.

"About how long?" Graham inquired.

"Twelve hours at most, probably," Ladie read from her clipboard. "The ingoing and outgoing docking bays have been finished a week ago. The implements for both transport modules are being fitted in as we speak. The modules themselves will be arriving by hovercraft from Sector R in about…" she looked at her digital watch. "…Two hours, tops."

Fia walked by her grandfather's side as the adults exchanged statistics. She looked at the looming outer wall and the crystalline plate that rested on top of it. The docking bays had space enough for vehicles twice the size of regular hovercrafts. The sound of drills and blowtorches cut sharply through the night air and rang terribly through her ears. Workers ran about, carrying tools and machinery from custom-made hovercrafts specially designed for the maintenance of the outer wall.

She shivered in the cold air. Sector E was located in the middle of a barren wasteland, with not a city for miles around. It felt somewhat eerie to be out here, where the weather and climate—the entire environment—was uncontrolled and unsuppressed, unlike the inside of the dome. What if there was a freak storm in the middle of the installations? Her grandfather had once mentioned that they were becoming increasingly frequent, but had then reassured her that the dome was specially designed to withstand extreme temperature and pressure.

"Just think," Graham told her wistfully. "The main entrance wouldn't be so clogged up with all those bulky hovercrafts importing and exporting supplies from other sectors. Immigration bureaucrats will have an easier time letting people from the provincial sectors inhabit our city. We can finally realize our dream of becoming the most technologically advanced metropolis in the area."

"Yes," Fia said absentmindedly. She longed to be back inside the confines of her quarters, away from this unprotected, desolate atmosphere. The air was getting colder, and she wished for the controlled temperatures inside the dome.

"How are your fencing lessons?" Graham asked suddenly. It was then that Fia realized that she still had her rapier strapped to her waist. She had forgotten to remove it when she was in her quarters an hour ago.

"Fine," she replied. "My mentor told me that I was making good progress."

"Yes, you were always one to handle sharp objects," Graham chided. "Even if fencing seems rather old-fashioned."

"Oh, Grandfather…" Fia said with a chuckle, fingering the ornate hilt of her rapier.

"Clear the landing area! The Sector R hovercraft is landing!" someone shouted. Fia and Graham looked above them to see the streamlined hovercraft land from several meters above them. When it descended to several feet, the wind around them whipped up with a light humming, and Fia had to hold her skirt down while watching it settle on the tract of land blocked off by fences. The hovercraft was at least half as tall as the CPTS stations, though not nearly as wide. They watched as two flagmen went to opposite ends of the landing zone and started waving their neon torches to guide the hovercraft.

The humming got louder, and air rushed out from under it as it finally touched the ground. A great hatch opened from the rounded shape, and stumpy carrier robots came out holding the parts for the transport modules in their great claws. They worked quite efficiently, moving in a line to each of the docking bays as their operators sent them instructions via remote controls.

"All right," Ladie cleared her throat as she approached the workers. "Make sure that everything is fitted in perfectly for tomorrow's test run. Make sure that the power cells are at optimal levels. Check the engines. Clear the roads. Come on, people. Move!"

III

By eleven o'clock Fia found herself looking out of Graham's hovercar as it cruised along the low traffic in the small neighborhoods. She looked at the various houses as they gave off a ghostly white gleam while blurring past them. Street lights were on, but they glow, rather than cast light.

Eventually, the houses gave way to small buildings and neon-lit shops bustling with all-nighters. Flashes of neon pink, green, and blue streaked across the car window, not blinding her, since she was used to them, but they gave the night sky beyond the dome a lighter shade of black.

"We're here," Graham stopped the car in front of the main entrance. "Good night, Fia."

"Good night, Grandfather," Fia leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, then bent back to close the car door. The hovercar rose a few inches and sped off. Fia stood there and watched the car disappear.

Installed to the entrance were several sensors and cameras that would open the doors if they recognized any visitors late at night. During the day, someone would be monitoring the comings and goings of the ingress, but at night, the security system would only allow the tenants to enter.

The cameras watched Fia intently and recorded every single detail of her departure.

**IV**

The finished transport modules were secured inside the closed docking bays. A mechanic lingered about for a while, checking for anything out of order. Once he was satisfied, he shut down all the machinery, slipped out, and locked the door, whistling along the way.

By midnight all automated facilities were shut down. As soon as the CPTS clocks struck twelve, the neon shop lights, street lamps, and any other computerized equipment, with the exception of the security systems, were either turned off or entered into low power settings.

**V**

Fia walked silently down the road that led to Sector E's main gate. She felt sleepy, and each step was wobblier than the last, but something compelled her to keep moving. She looked at the thin display of her Teedie, where a digital map of Sector E was laid out for her. Soon, the silver-white gate appeared before her.

Fia knew that the mechanized entrance would not allow her to go out, but still she walked on. She was well aware of the security cameras taking in her every movement, and knew that once she reached the doors she wouldn't be permitted to continue beyond that point. The system mainframe identified her as a minor, and, with its built-in clock confirming the curfew hour, instructed the security robots to block her from going any further.

Two androids stood in her path, and Fia stopped walking. She tapped the screen of her Teedie.

**12:54 PM**

She knew that the security system only considered her a minor threat, and therefore did not sound any alarms.

_Good_, she thought, and drew her rapier. She went towards one of the androids and pierced it through the head, slicing it downwards as much as she can. The blade only came down a few millimeters, but it was enough to cut through the main circuitry and disable the android. The second one looked her over with its mechanical eyes, then shifted the lens to that of its partner. It turned to her once again and attempted to reach for her, but she was too fast. Fia sidestepped the second machine and thrust her rapier into its right eye. Sparks flew from the socket, and streamed through the metal blade and to Fia's hand.

The electric jolt stung her fingers, and she released her grip on the rapier with a startled gasp. The android pulled the offending item from its eye and flung it far behind. The thin metal clinked softly against the sealed doors.

The android's glassy eye fixed itself menacingly at her, and once again it tried to grab her. She quickly ran behind the first android and around it to the sealed exit, reaching for her rapier. The android saw what she was doing and raised an arm at her, fingers pointed in her direction. Needles protruded from the fingertips, and the android shot its fingers at her. They were tranquilizer darts. Fia ducked and snatched her rapier. The android fired another wave as it started moving towards her. She blocked them off with her rapier, then sheathed it and desperately pressed a combination of buttons on the mechanized lock. No good. The security system had gotten to it first, and the doors wouldn't budge unless she could hack into the mainframe and disable the locks from there.

The problem, besides the android, was that she knew very little about hacking. But her Teedie was one of the latest models available, so perhaps it could do the work for her. She hurriedly wired her Teedie into the lock and tapped in instructions as fast as she could. She froze and dropped her handheld as she felt a metallic hand clamp onto her shoulder.

"Huh!" She drew her rapier, drove it deep into the android's skull, and pulled it out. The robot halted, and Fia painstakingly pulled its arm off. She picked up her Teedie, rewired it to the lock, and began tapping a series of instructions onto the panel. The security program was stubborn, and she still had more to decode than she could handle. Teedie's clock icon showed her that it was already close to two-thirty. She knew she had to hurry before five o'clock, when the entire sector would get back online.

By some strange twist of fate the doors slid open noiselessly before her, even though she still had several codes to get past. She ignored this strange development, though reason argued that there might be someone watching her besides the computers, but she knew that she still had a lot of ground to cover to make sure that no one could catch her.

**VI**

The hatches opened up slowly, leaving a lazy hiss in its aftermath. Late morning sunlight spilled through the docking bays, giving a yellowish gleam to the rotund, polished forms of the transport modules. Ladie squinted in the light, a hand raised to her eyes, and the other clasping her clipboard to her chest. She was standing in the loading bay, but she knew full well that the scenario here was similar to that of the neighboring area.

"Ready to launch," the pilot's face appeared on the main computer screen.

"Roger that," an operator typed into his keyboard. "Everyone clear the area. Launch to begin in T-minus ten seconds. Start countdown: ten…nine…eight…"

Ladie stared at the motionless vehicle with impatience, as if giving it a good piercing look would coax it to move. Her heart pounding in exasperation, she looked at her watch.

"…One."

The maintenance crew and their assistant robots stayed on the higher platforms of the area, all eyes locked on the module as its metallic clamps detached from its flanks. Streamlined fins slipped from its edges, though not completely, making the module look like a clumsy blimp. Its snout took on a sharper form, and part of its sides collapsed sleekly inward, giving it a more aerodynamic shape. Tiny bluish particles were emitted from the engines, soon moving faster and gradually flaring up. The ship's engines hummed as it gracefully rose a few feet from its platform. It moved forward slowly at first, but soon sped away, leaving only a blast of wind as it made its exit.

Ladie smiled, pleased that the launch had been successful. A report from a nearby intercom confirmed that the second module had also left.

Her Teedie beeped, and Ladie pulled it from her purse and stared at the screen. "Hello?"

The image blurred, but came to reveal Graham on the other line. "Ladie…have you seen Fia?"

"I'm afraid not, Sir. What's wrong? You look pale."

Graham sighed. "The police called me. It was about someone successfully breaking out of the main gate. No alarms were sounded off, and two of the security androids were pierced through by a pointed object."

"Wait, but, if the alarms didn't sound off, then…only a minor attempted to leave!" Ladie gasped. "But Sir, it could be someone else…"

"I wish it were, but the security cameras had filmed everything. Even if the footage was grainy, it was clearly her. Besides," he paused. "Fencing is an ancient sport, and the thrusts matched one of her rapiers. She is probably the only one in the entire sector capable of using it. Oh Fia…" Graham trailed off, lost in concern and dismay.

"Please get some rest, Sir. I'll see what I can do," she closed her Teedie and walked briskly to her hovercar.

She stared up at the dome as she went in, and stopped halfway. The sky was overcast, lusterless gray veiling sunlight. Ocher dust swirled about, growing more and more restless with each wind's passing. Ladie felt her heart stop. She immediately shoved her hand into her purse, pulled out her Teedie, and called the police and Graham. There was no time to lose. A freak storm was on the horizon.

**VII**

Fia wasn't exactly sure where she was going. After traveling for miles down a lifeless road, she was starting to—in her opinion—think more clearly. Now she realized that it was silly of her to just run away without a good reason. But then, if something was so compelling that she had to traverse into unknown and meteorologically unsafe lands with only her rapier, Teedie, and the clothes on her back, then it simply must be a good reason—she just didn't know what it was yet.

A strong gust of wind blasted into her face, bringing with it the dry bounty of the land. Fia coughed in the dust and rubbed her eyes, recoiling slightly from being caught unawares. She looked around her, seeing nothing more than wasteland. She started to get nervous, and began walking even faster. There _must_ be some form of shelter on this desolate landscape.

It was hard to walk. Her shoes were low-heeled, but she still had to hike on hard, parched ground. After a while the wind started blowing again, growing stronger and more rapid as she started to see the sky grow darker. She pulled out her Teedie to look at the time.

_One forty-two?_ She looked up at the sky. It was a dull gray. Low thunder rumbled, and she realized her fatal mistake. The storm clouds gathered, clumped. Lightning flashed at intervals, and droplets of water and grains of dirt and sand were whipped about furiously by the wind. Fia started running, desperately seeking shelter. The wind howled and pulled at her hair. The sheathed length of her rapier batted against her leg, threatening to loosen and fly with the wind. She placed her arm in front of her eyes, fist closed firmly as she tried to navigate out of the storm, eyes barely open. Yellow dust clouds blocked her vision, and she could no longer see.

The ground beneath her feet started to get muddy, and her dress clung wetly to her figure. Her green hair ribbon was ripped out, and it prompted her to grasp at her rapier with her free hand. Her hair found its way around her neck, and the hem of her dress twisted in a counter-clockwise spin. She didn't feel anything under her feet at this point. She pressed her eyelids closed, feeling the wind and rain molding into each other, the clap of thunder ringing through her ears, and the urgent howling of the storm melting into the darkness.

A scream found its way out of her mouth, but was quickly drowned out.

**VIII**

The storm clouds cleared, and the winds slowed to a gentle breeze. A spray of stars glinted against the purplish-black sky. Fia groggily opened her eyes and stared up. The absence of moonlight was not comforting. She blinked again, but couldn't see more than the shadowy silhouettes of what looked to be tall wisps of grass. She blinked again, not satisfied at the near dearth of light. Back at Sector E every place would be lighted, one could always count on the flashy shops and still glowing streets. She reached for her rapier and felt the hilt bump against her fingers. Relieved, she reached into her pocket, only to realize that her Teedie was gone.

The wind brushed her face, and she rubbed at it, feeling clumps of dirt loosening from her skin. She stood up with a bit of difficulty, finding her whole body cramped and aching from her recent adventure. Her dress was torn and caked with mud, but otherwise dry.

She stumbled in the grass, groping about for any obstacles. She hated not being able to see, and the weak celestial light helped little. A situation such as this would have had required all of her attention, but at every few steps or so she was starting to wonder about her grandfather, and how he was coping with her disappearance, and more so, if he had sent a search party. Would they be able to find her? How far did the storm take her? And where exactly was she? It was so strange, so new to her. There was very little plant life inside the dome, and feeling light pinpricks and flicking blades from the grass as she walked was a bit annoying.

But it was a new world all the same. Nothing mechanized, nothing contained. It would have been frightening, for one never knows what may lurk about in strange lands, but it felt somewhat tiring.

Her stomach groaned, and she placed a hand to it, fully remembering that she had not eaten for almost a day. Her legs were starting to feel numb from walking, and she plopped down on the grass, fatigue and hopelessness creeping into her senses. A tear made its way down the slope of her cheek, and a small stream flowed. Fia ignored it, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed.

**IX**

The sky was showing a lighter tint of purple as it made its transition from midnight to dawn when she stopped crying. Once her remorse was wept dry, she started to feel more calm and relaxed. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her dress and heaved a sigh. The smell of the grass was more pungent now, as if the night winds drew out their pleasantly bittersweet odor. The grasses were long, spindly, and bluish-green, sprouting up from every inch of land as far as the eye can see. The sky was starting to show a hint of russet, as if paint wash was spilled onto a watercolor masterpiece. The wind was much kinder now, only lifting her hair slightly before playfully dropping them back down onto her shoulders.

Her stomach grumbled, blatantly reminding her of her predicament. Fia sniffed the air once again, and wondered if the grass was edible. Back at home she was taught to never eat anything unless she was sure it was sterilized, nutritious, and approved by the Health Department. Those might be good for the body, but as she well knew, they were mostly bland and tasted of chemicals. Fia cringed at the thought, and decided against her better judgment. She plucked out a blade and chewed on it methodically, something she had never done during the course of her lifetime. The synthetic meals prepared at Sector E weren't the most appetizing, so she had developed a habit of immediately swallowing whatever she ate.

The grass tasted fine enough, a little bitter, but it was fresh and moist and so different from the slop she was unwittingly force-fed her whole life. She recalled her grandfather mentioning that there was a time when people simply ate for pleasure, not only for nutritional intake. She swallowed her meal, tongue tracing the inside of her mouth to taste the lingering flavor. There seemed to be no harmful side effects, she decided, and plucked out another.

After a few minutes she was satisfied, and stood up to look for a body of water. Perhaps the rain had left a puddle of water for her, not minding that it could be contaminated or whatnot. As far as she was concerned everything was clean in these parts. Before she set out she undid the ribbon from her collar and used it to tie a small bunch of grass into a bundle. She stuck it under the folds of her black vest and smoothed it out.

The sun was just about to rise, bringing a warm orange glow with it as she hiked through the field.

**X**

By the end of the day Fia found herself standing inside her room once more, having earlier been rescued by the test pilots on their rounds. What, her grandfather had demanded, was she doing running about in perilous territory with no protection or means of transportation whatsoever. She could have died!

Fia had only returned the admonishments with a bland smile. Up until now she was still unsure of the answer to that. Was it the wind that drew her away, on the night she first stepped outside? Was it the lack of humanity present within the dome?

Outside, the CPTS clocks glowed like scarred moons, but were too far away for her to tell the time. Her Teedie was never found—she assumed that the storm had buried it under dirt and mud. But it was fine. She undid the strap that held her rapier to her waist and placed them all on a nearby table. She removed her vest and heard a light sound. The small bundle she had carried dropped almost soundlessly to the floor.

Smiling, she picked them up and smelled them, letting the verdant aroma seep into her senses. Now that she thought of it, there were still small patches of living forests left inside the dome. It would be nice to lie in the grass, smell the green, and disappear in their mystery.

Cradling the sleek bunch in her hands, she walked up to the glass window and sighed, drinking in the peerless moon, the lustrous silver-studded purple-black of the sky above the pristine, white cityscape, the unseen jaded fields, the untamed winds, and the elementals, moving in harmony, undisrupted, peaceful, wild, and free.

**Fin.**

Don't be fooled. There _are_ faeries in this story, but it depends entirely on your point of view what role they play in this story.

Why did Fia suddenly escape a safe haven and nearly get herself killed? You could look at it in different perspectives actually. Do you think I wrote this because I feel a love for nature? Is this a plea for the restoration of humanity amid technological advances? Is this story a metaphor for acting on your impulses or breaking out of your comfort zone? Is this some kind of unsweetened faery tale with a touch of _Rip Van Winkle_? Or am I just plain nuts?

Well, you decide. And yes, I am provoking you to think.


End file.
